Tired of being utterly humiliated and going “Kabloom!” whenever you face off with your mortal enemy, the Road Runner? Call the law offices of Will Forte’s Coyote vs. Acme character Kevin Avery and he’ll get you the justice you deserve — or at least he’ll try to. In the first official trailer for the long-awaited movie, the billboard accident lawyer shows that it isn’t always easy representing someone as persistently disaster prone as Wile E. Coyote.
Coyote vs. Acme hits theaters Aug. 28 following a contentious battle for release with Warner Bros., which shelved the film in 2023. Widespread backlash led to it being acquired for global distribution by Ketchup Entertainment. Going head-to-head with corporate conglomerates is what the movie is all about, anyway.
In the trailer, Wile E. Coyote lawyers up after yet another accident involving Acme products. Avery has spent years helping Looney Tunes characters receive modest payouts from the company, but this trial takes it to another level. In court, Acme Inc. is represented by John Cena’s Buddy Crane, who knows the exact game Coyote loves to play (and lose). “He is reckless,” the lawyer says. “We all know who’s responsible, and all of his injuries are self-inflicted.”
But if no one at the corporation has faith in Avery, at least his niece does. Paige (Lana Condor) pushes her uncle to use the Coyote vs. Acme case to truly prove himself. He has plenty of support from previous Acme victims, too. “Acme?” Daffy Duck asks in the clip. “Ac-you!” Then there’s Porky Pig with a fresh black eye, Tweety getting choked out, and Bugs Bunny, who shows up in the final moment of the trailer to deliver his iconic line, “So, uh, what is up, doc?”
Director Dave Green and producer James Gunn helmed the film based on the classic Looney Tunes character and The New Yorker humor article “Coyote v. Acme,” by Ian Frazier, published in February 1990. Ketchup Entertainment landed the live-action/animated hybrid film for around $50 million, according to The Wrap, after Warner Bros. said that pulling the film was part of a “shift [in] its global strategy to focus on theatrical releases.”
“Warner Bros. is a mess,” a source from the film told Rolling Stone in 2023. “They obviously are carrying this staggering debt. They probably have certain minimums and obligations they must owe their creditors, which are motivating them to make bizarre choices. They’re just not in sync with how the business has been run. It’s devilishly destructive.” Another production source added, “Quite honestly, we thought it was a slam dunk. I think that’s what’s so deflating and frustrating. I just don’t get it because it’s sitting there and none of us get to see something that’s so fun and enjoyable.”
It’s finally time to borrow some of Coyote’s dynamite to blow the dust off the film.
